Quite apart from the decimation of illegal poaching, legal eastern markets are tearing the wild heart out of Africa. Each year thousands of tonnes of live animals, bones, skins and meat head East in a plunder with no end in sight. The scale at which Africa’s wildlife is being drained by Eastern market demand is enormous, according to a report by the wildlife monitoring network TRAFFIC released this week. The focus on wildlife trade from Africa generally centres on the illegal trade and the massive poaching of iconic species such as elephants and rhinos. However, comparatively little attention has been…

“… new orphan Number 20, little baby boy of 6-weeks old arrived…” “… wild baby born to Mabizala was finally released…” “… Nevada is improving slowly…” “… author, photographer, film maker, co-founder of 50/50, visited overnight…” “… intro to new Mkela troop is on-going…” “… Thandi was brought back into quarantine…” I get dizzy just reading the monthly newsletter from this busy primate rehabilitation center! If you donate to assist Silke and her rescue rehab center and ever wondered where the money goes… you must read Bambelela’s March 2018 Newsletter. Silke and her team are rescuing orphaned monkeys. Treating sick…

The US will now consider issuing permits to import elephant trophies from Zimbabwe and Tanzania on a case by case basis in the face of widespread condemnation from conservation groups. Can the Trump administration make up it’s mind? In a formal memo last week, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) agreed to allow trophy hunting of African elephants and lions, despite President Donald Trump’s decision last year to uphold a ban on importing elephant trophies from some southern African countries. The decision comes nearly four months after Trump stepped in to halt his own administration’s decision to again allow…

Why is it that we humans never understand that even a captive lion is forever a predator… and can and will kill? Oh how horrible! Was my response as I read about the killing. One of Kevin Richardson’s lionesses attacked a woman. Kevin, a huge advocate for lions, campaigns against the captive breeding of lions. Some find this controversial. Kevin has a sanctuary for lions that can’t be released. However, Kevin doesn’t breed lions. He provides them with a forever home. As part of the lions’ enrichment he takes them for ‘lion walks’ on the Dinokeng reserve where the sanctuary…

Over the past four years Russ and I have visited with dozens of people who do wildlife conservation in Africa. They’re involved in rescue rehab, anti-poaching, human-wildlife-conflict, activism, and education. Some are young some older. Some very experienced and others not. Some are successful and others less so. As we have revisited and kept track of many of these dedicated people we’ve seen a few common factors. Three factors seem to be essential for sustained success in wildlife conservation in Africa. #1 – Create an effective team At the turn of the century I worked as a management consultant. My…